Samuel Goldwyn Films Takes All North American Rights To Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit’s Comedy THE FAREWELL PARTY

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all North American rights to co-writer/directors Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit’s euthanasia comedy THE FAREWELL PARTY, represented by sales agent Beta Cinema. The film screened to enthusiastic audiences and critics in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the Toronto International Film Festival and had its world premiere this past summer at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Venice Days’ People’s Choice award.

“A poignant, provocative dramedy…boasting a dream cast, a finely honed visual sense and superbly ironic comic timing and dialogue…” (VARIETY)

“Anyone will be moved by this tender, unexpectedly charming tale… an original work of gentle militancy.” (THR)

THE FAREWELL PARTY also won four Ophir Awards, the Israeli Academy Awards, including in the Best Actor category for acclaimed Israeli actor Ze’ev Revach, and received a total of 14 nominations, including for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress.

The film is produced by Pie Films, 2Team production, in co-production with Pallas Film, Twenty Twenty Vision and United King Films.

Samuel Goldwyn Films plans a Spring 2015 release.

Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit tell a unique, compassionate and unlikely funny story of a group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home who build a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of the machine begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, and the friends are faced with a life and death dilemma.

THE FAREWELL PARTY stars Israeli actors including veteran comedian Ze’ev Revach, Levana Finkelshtein, Aliza Rozen, Ilan Dar, and Rafael Tabor.

Sharon Maymon has collaborated with Tal Granit on the short films To Kill a Bumblebee and Summer Vacation, which was one of the ten live action short films selected this year to advance in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voting process for the 87th Academy Awards. THE FAREWELL PARTY is their latest collaboration; the two wrote the feature film script from which the film is based “My Sweet Euthanasia,” which was selected to participate in the Talent Project Market of the Berlinale 2010, where they won the Best Pitch Award.

In addition to his work with Granit, Maymon co-wrote the feature film A Matter of Size (2009, 90 mins) with Danny Cohen-Solal and co-directed it with Erez Tadmor. A Matter of Size premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2009 and was the opening film of the Jerusalem Film Festival the same year. The film also won the Audience Award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. A Matter of Size was nominated in fifteen categories in the Israeli Academy Awards and won three of them, and it was the blockbuster film in Israel in 2009. Paramount Pictures bought the rights for the American remake of the film.

Filmmakers Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit added: “We are excited that our film, which comes from a personal experience, has touched the people at Samuel Goldwyn Films. Sharing our film with the audience of North America is a dream coming true and we are thankful for that.”